Other Ideas
- Names & their importance related to works of literature: e.g., Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Alex Haley’s Roots and Queen; Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (the fact that each name in Russian has something to add to the theme of the book is helpful); The Crucible by Arthur Miller (the last scene is particularly moving, when John Proctor is about to be executed and the only way he can get out of it is by signing his name to lies about other people. He shouts, "But it's my name! I'll never have another!"); The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl; Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech (names which mirror the characteristics of the characters); A Gathering of Old Men by William Gaines (has many character-appropriate nick-names).
- Explore the History of Names. How we came up with names. Where did surnames come from? Naming in other cultures. How does naming work in other cultures? Examples: Japan, South Africa, Native Americans, etc.
- Connection to Gloria Naylor’s Bailey’s Café: African-American character who struggles with effects of his given ethnic name and the discrimination he faces because of this in the world of work.
- Have students research the meaning behind a relative’s name that they are interested in; allows for interviewing activity
- Students develop a creative response to their name’s meaning
- Students research their “signed” name or make up one of their own (sign language)
- Students create a pseudonym for themselves that they can then use in their writing
- Develop a class book of names which incorporates each student’s name “story”
- Research name and background as bridge for researching a particular culture and an author from that culture. Also, choose literary work by that author to read and write a review. Make a copy for every student in the class (a type of culture notebook.).
- Cultural and historical events/shifts and their effects on name changes (i.e., how names change in some way—gender, spelling, degree of popularity, power, etc.; Do names help determine a person’s destiny? Do names match personality types?)
- Use name inquiry to bridge to Romeo and Juliet and a discussion of the lineage and cultural themes of the play; other texts for juxtaposition here might include the modern film version of Romeo and Juliet, the musical West Side Story, or the story of the Hatfields and McCoys (recently captured in a film starring Kevin Costner for the History Channel)
- Use name inquiry to bridge to a unit on autobiography: have students create a memorable events timeline, write a phase autobiography, read published autobiography (-ies); juxtapose with biography
- Use name inquiry to bridge into look for examples of naming and “nameplay” in literature (e.g., the excerpt when Pippin & Merry meet Treebeard in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Part Two: The Two Towers; the characters in Dicken’s Hard Times; etc.)